If a senior frequently falls at home, it may indicate that family members can no longer provide enough supervision to keep the person safe. For that reason, falls are among the most common reasons elderly people enter nursing homes in the United States. Nursing homes are required to provide fall prevention measures to residents at risk. Yet unfortunately, nursing home falls are very common, with the CDC estimating that “a typical nursing home with 100 beds reports 100 to 200 falls” per year. Up to one fifth of these falls cause serious injuries, such as pelvic fractures, brain injuries, or neck injuries, while approximately 1,800 annual nursing home falls are fatal.

If your elderly parent, spouse, grandparent, or other elderly loved one suffered a personal injury or was wrongfully killed in a nursing home slip and fall accident or trip and fall accident, financial compensation may be available for medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages. Let nursing home fall injury lawyer Brent Wieand bring skill, knowledge, and legal experience to your nursing home injury claim. We can fight to maximize the worth of your claim while bringing the negligent nursing home to justice. To set up a free legal consultation, contact our law offices.

When Are Nursing Homes Liable for Fall-Related Deaths or Injuries?

Nursing homes are not liable for all falls that occur at the facility. However, there are many instances where a nursing home may be held liable for a resident’s fall-related injuries. Since each fall is different, it’s necessary to consult a nursing home injury lawyer to carefully review circumstances under which the fall occurred.

Nursing homes owe a “duty of care” to their residents, which means they have a legal responsibility to take proper precautions to protect residents from harm. When a nursing home “breaches” this duty, and a resident is harmed as a result, the nursing home may be found negligent and held liable for the injury victim’s harms and losses. This includes damages such as medical expenses, projected financial losses, physical impairment, pain, and emotional distress.

In order to show that a long-term care facility’s negligence caused a resident to sustain an injury, nursing home neglect attorneys will carefully review evidence such as the facility’s records, eyewitness accounts, the facility’s training procedures for staff, and accounts of friends and family members.

Long term care facilities are required to make an assessment of the residents needs upon admission to the nursing home. When assessment of an incoming resident indicates the resident is a fall risk, the facility’s staff should take the appropriate precautions. For example, a resident at high fall risk may require that a call bell be within reach at all times so that nursing staff can help the resident walk to and from the bathroom.

Failure to exercise proper care can lead to serious fall-related injuries or even death. Examples of negligence which may result in a nursing home resident falling, include:

Failing to provide a resident with physical assistance, walkers, canes, or other stabilizing devices

Negligent supervision of the resident

Negligent retention, supervision and training of nursing staff

Failing to utilize appropriate fall protection devices

Intentionally allowing a resident to fall, or even physically shoving a resident, which is a form of nursing home abuse

Settlement and Compensation for a Nursing Home Fall Injury

If a nursing home is found liable for a patient’s fall-related death or injury, the victim may be awarded financial compensation for his/her losses. If the fall caused the resident’s death, such compensation would be distributed amongst immediate family members and other parties.

In some cases, usually when the negligence is clear, a nursing home may try to negotiate a settlement. You should always discuss any settlement offer with an experienced nursing home injury attorney who is experienced in evaluating the value of injury cases before entering into an agreement. Otherwise, you may accept a low ball offer which fails to compensate your family member for all damages incurred.

If the nursing home denies liability, or refuses to make a reasonable offer that accounts for the true extent of the victim’s long-term expenses and hardships, your attorney must be prepared to take the case to trial. Brent Wieand has experience representing plaintiffs in complex cases and are prepared to aggressively prosecute negligent nursing homes in the interest of justice for our clients and their loved ones.

We will work closely with you at every step, so that you are informed and confident at each stage of the process. We will clearly explain the risks and benefits of settling out of court versus trying your case before a jury. In order to protect your best interests, we will analyze the situation and help you pursue the legal strategy with the greatest likelihood of obtaining fair compensation.

Contact Our Nursing Home Fall Injury Lawyers

If your elderly spouse, mother, father, or other elderly relative suffered a nursing home injury after falling at the facility, our nursing home neglect lawyers can fight to recover compensation for your loved one. We can also work to hold the facility accountable for its negligence, so that other seniors do not have to go through the same experience. Our mission is to see that justice is served for the victims of preventable nursing home injuries.